NEXT Biometrics company update
Oslo, April 28, 2020 – NEXT Biometrics (Oslo Bors: NEXT), a global company in fingerprint sensor technology. The Company continues to assess the impact of the COVID-19 virus. In view of this the Board has decided to provide a status update and outline a plan of action for the company.

Status:
Revenues in Q1 will come in at approximately NOK 20 million, which is 117% higher than the low point reached in Q4 2019. During the quarter, the company carried out a substantial program of cost reduction, an effort which will be accelerated further in the coming quarters. The quarterly numbers do not yet fully reflect the cost reductions and will therefore show a significant negative cash flow.

The COVID-19 virus has an impact on the operation, but management has taken the necessary steps to ensure that our customers are serviced and that inquiries are being attended to in a professional manner.

Plan of Action:
The Board decided to implement the following plan of restructuring of its operations designed to safeguard the company’s intellectual property and key individuals, maintain existing and new customer relationships, carry out deliveries and conserve cash.

The plan is to reach an opex run rate of approximately 5 MNOK/month during Q4 2020 compared to 16 MNOK/month in Q4 2019. Key elements initiated and under implementation are:

Outsource parts of the operation to lower cost countries
Reduce headcount further
Streamline and lower vendor costs further
Simplify legal structure including lower administration costs
Simplify product offering
“Management has acted resolutely with a restructuring plan that will provide a leaner and more customer focused operation. The plan will reset the company, conserve cash, and enable Next to become a commercially focused technology company”, said Peter Heuman, CEO of Next Biometrics.

About NEXT Biometrics
NEXT provides advanced fingerprint sensor technology that delivers uncompromised security and accuracy for the best possible user experience in the smart card, government ID, access control and notebook markets. The company’s patented NEXT Active Thermal™ principle allows the development of large, high quality fingerprint sensors in both rigid and flexible formats. NEXT Biometrics Group ASA (www.nextbiometrics.com) is headquartered in Oslo, with sales, support and development operations in Seattle, Taipei, Prague, Bengaluru and Shanghai.

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NEXT Investor contact:
Peter Heuman, peter.heuman@nextbiometrics.com